Friday, January 24, 2014

Self-Storage Tips For Fragile Items

Storing fragile items like breakables, electronic equipment, and
paper-items can be problematic with stuff ending up broken and spoiled
beyond use. Knowing how to pack each kind of item and the storage
conditions needed for each item will ensure that your valuables stay in
good condition until the time comes when you have the need for them and
decide to take them out of storage.

To help you keep your fragile items safe and sound, here are some tips for you:

Breakables - Dishes, Cups, Glasses, Mirrors, etc.

1. Wrap dishes, cups, and glasses individually. Use newspaper or tissue paper to do this.

2. Mirrors should be padded with cardboard or thick cloth (e.g. quilt or blankets) on all sides.

3.
Do not stack dishes when putting them inside boxes, but stand them on
their sides instead next to each other. Make sure that they fit snuggly
inside the box and add extra padding on the side if needed to insure
that they're not loose and won't rattle during the move.

4. Cups
and bowls can be stacked on top of each other, but keep it to a minimum
with only 4-5 cups / bowls per stack. Just as with dishes, use
additional padding material for each box if needed.

5. Secure boxes with packing tape and make sure that you label them FRAGILE and that the top side is indicated clearly.

6. When storing mirrors, stand them on end instead of laying them flat on the floor.

Electronic equipment / Appliances

1.
Take out any batteries from electronic equipment since batteries will
eventually leak out and break your stuff. In case you'll be packing
appliances like refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers,
make sure you take out any items that might be inside as well. This is
especially important if you have perishable or dirty good inside!

2.
If you still have the original packaging material with you, then put
your electronic equipment and appliances in them since you can be sure
that the fit is perfect and you won't have to bother about padding your
boxes by doing this.

3. If you don't have original boxes with you,
then find boxes that are closest to their measurements so that they
won't rattle much during the move. You also need to wrap your stuff in
bubble wrap to protect them from bumps on the road.

4. In case
you'll be storing electronic equipment with separate parts such as
stereos and computers, then pack or wrap each part separately even if
you put them inside the same box.

Paper

Paper is one of the
most problematic things to store since they degrade easily. So it is
best that you learn all you can about storing paper collections.

In
the meantime, just remember that in general, you need to use non-acidic
tissue paper and boxes when storing documents if you wish to preserve
them for as long as possible. You also need to keep in mind that you
can't store paper items and documents in ordinary storage units and may
need to rent climate-controlled storage units for them.